slammerhard
Joined Sep 2018
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I first watched Ashes of Time in a small city in Guangdong on "dvcd" which was a dual layer vcd with the whole film on one cd instead of two, and which used to sell in the night market for two and a half yuan.
Later, I got the HK dvd which is exactly the same quality as the vcd, and much later I got the chance to watch the widely promoted redux version.
The image quality in redux is better than the previous versions but otherwise I was dissapointed. There is a line at the start of the film where Ouyang Feng says that he doesn't like it when others are happier than himself. This line seems to be missing from the redux version. There is also some cgi blood which doesn't look good.
Lots of Chinese people complain they don't understand the movie even after watching it a couple of times. Casual viewers from elsewhere will probably have the same problem. It's not that the plot is too difficult, but the way the story unfolds through the unusual structure.
Even after watching the film several times, I had the wrong impression that Hung Chi leaves with the young girl, instead of getting back together with his wife, which is what actually happens.
In the book "INTERVIEWS WITH WKW" the director talks about Ashes of Time and offers lots of useful information. A must read for all fans of WKW.
Despite the poor image quality I would suggest viewers seek out the original version and watch that one instead of the much touted redux version.
Later, I got the HK dvd which is exactly the same quality as the vcd, and much later I got the chance to watch the widely promoted redux version.
The image quality in redux is better than the previous versions but otherwise I was dissapointed. There is a line at the start of the film where Ouyang Feng says that he doesn't like it when others are happier than himself. This line seems to be missing from the redux version. There is also some cgi blood which doesn't look good.
Lots of Chinese people complain they don't understand the movie even after watching it a couple of times. Casual viewers from elsewhere will probably have the same problem. It's not that the plot is too difficult, but the way the story unfolds through the unusual structure.
Even after watching the film several times, I had the wrong impression that Hung Chi leaves with the young girl, instead of getting back together with his wife, which is what actually happens.
In the book "INTERVIEWS WITH WKW" the director talks about Ashes of Time and offers lots of useful information. A must read for all fans of WKW.
Despite the poor image quality I would suggest viewers seek out the original version and watch that one instead of the much touted redux version.
With lots of sex and violence, obviously influenced by Lucio Fulci, especially New York Ripper and Contraband, this is a precursor to the later films of the French extreme wave. It's not very well done, the pacing is terrible, it seems the French don't know how to pull off a decent action film. It's a mishmash of styles patched together in a haphazard manner, there is even an outdoor garden scene with meticulous framing that will remind you of the films of Eric Rohmer.
There is blood and extreme violence but the gore effects are not as good as those in Italian b movies. As long as you don't set your expectations too high it can provide the goods. It's also got a Greek guy as the main villain.
There is blood and extreme violence but the gore effects are not as good as those in Italian b movies. As long as you don't set your expectations too high it can provide the goods. It's also got a Greek guy as the main villain.
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